Art of drying bodies.



G. H. BENJAMIN. ART 0F DRvmG Boones.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20. |914. 1,2255212. Patented May 8, 1917.-

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ART 0F DRYVING BODIES. APPLICATION FILED Nov. 2o. 1914.

Y1,225,21 2. Patented. May 8,1917.

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G. H. BENJAMlN. ART-0F DRYING BODIES. APPLICATION FILED Nov.2o.1914.

1,225,212. Patented May 8, V1917.

\X fm I GEonGE'HLLAnD :BENJA-iam, or NEW Yonx, N. Y;

ART oF. DRYING Bonnes. y

l To allA when@ t may concern: Be it known that I, GEORGE' H11-LARI)v BEN- JAMIN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing' at New Yorkjcityyinthe county and My invention relates to a method and apparatus forv drying or otherwisel treating bodies for the urpose of removing moisture and putting t em into a condition which'.

. )will permit of their'storage without sensible deterioration for considerable periods.

My improved' method is based upon the following conditions: I

. (A) If a. cellular body containing mois- Y'ture,is subjected Ato'heat', the fluid within the -cell walls of the body willbe expanded, the

' plied, and such expansion will "create a presexpansion being proportional to the heat ap sure from within `the cell walls outwardly, which will tend to expandthe cell mem- 'Y so branethereby making it thinnerand causing an eXudation of the fluid from thecells through the membrane ofl the body.

(B) If a, cellular body, having moisture upon itssurface,or containing fluid within itscell walls, is subjected to the action of air" currents having a capacity foryabsorbing moisture, the eii'ect of such vair currents will be to absorb'the external 'moisture and to set up an exosmotic eXudation of .the fluid within the cell walls, and'furither, by the rapid .currents over the body, tend to chill the body and .thereby lower the ternper'atureof .the body from the normal, or form a t em;`

perature at which exudation of the moisture within the cell walls wilLnot take place. improved method, therefore, briefly stated, contemplates subjecting the body to a temperaturev sufficient to set up: exudation and Simultaneously 'subjecting the body to the exuded moisture and at the same time the action of 'air currents. which will absorb aid the exudation thecell walls.. I v `As'supplementary to the 'action of thev two of moisture from within forces above set `forth, my invention' also 1 vcontemplatesA the use of a third force, i. e the eiiect of` transmitted light. It is a well known fact that sunlight or electric'lighty has a very Yreat eii'eot-npon vegetation, and` that .such e ect is 'observed'in the growth-of` 'the plant, ,the coloring 0i the leeves'and s pecihcamn'of Letten raient. Application mea 1ro'venrnmr-`2o,1 1 914. "serial No. sraios.

evaporation due to the passage of. the airV on the line VI-VI of Fig. 5.

Patented Mays, 1917.

blossoms, the ex'udation of moisture from the plant, and the power .of the plant-to absorb carbon; I1 have described my process .as mainlj7 consisting of the application of the two forces, i. e., theefect of heat and that of passing air currents, fon with many materials tobe v treated, the application of these twolforees'will be'suicient, whereas with other bodies, the third force, i. e., the electrie light, is advantageous.

My inventiom also relates to the construc- .tion of the apparatus used for carrying the above. described method into eect, and

which I will describe for the purpose of illustrating how thev method. maybe used. I wish it understood, however, that I do not in any wise limit myself to the particular `forms of apparatus disclosed, as other ap paratus may befused with great success.

The accompanying drawings illustrate ap` npara'tus which' maybe used for carrying my improved method into eieet, inwhich F ig- .urel-is a vertical section of a dehydrating apparatus; Fig. v2 vis a transverse section on the line I I-IItof F ig. \1. Fig. `3 is a verti-A cal section of the portion 'of the dehydrating apparatus s hownI in Fig'. l at the right, and

showingvthe' influence dampers in a different position from that of Fig. '1. Fig. 4 is a transverse section corresponding-to Fig. 2 but showing a modiicationof my invention. Fig.- 5 is a vertical section of' the right hand end of the dehydrating apparatus corre'- Ysponding to Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a plan view taken through Figs. 4 and 5, substantially vertical section" of a modification vof the dehydrating' apparatus. Fig. 8 is a transverse section on the line VIII-fsVIIIof Fig. 7.

u Fig. 9 is vva horizontal section of the right hand end of Fig.- 7 taken on the line In; the drawings, 10 represents a drum, di-

vided into compartments by partitions 11,

andhaving hand holes 12, with covers 13, through which hand holes the material to be Fig. 7 is a dehydrated maybeintroduced into the compartments inthe cavityof `the drum. At

with a vtoothed `wheel/*16, -which coperatiesv with a pinion 17 attached to any suitable source ofower, and thus rotation of the drum be'e ected, as desired. At the right lhand end of` the vdrum is a hot air duct 18,

which is assumed to be connected to a source.

of air. Situated in the air duct at different levels, are influence dampers 19.-20. Damper19 is secured to a shaft 21, and damper 2O is secured to a shaft 22. To shaft 22 is secured arms 23 and 24,`and to shaft 21 is secured an arm 25. The dampers v19--20 can be manually adjusted to the position shown in Figs. 1 and 7 by engagement of pins 26 with apertures formed in arms 23 and and the Wall of air duct .18.

Loosely mounted on shaft 21 is a bellcrank 27, one arm o f which is pivoted to a rod 28, which arm 1s provided with a slot 29 engaging a pin `30 formed on the arm 24. The other arm of bell-crank 27 is connected by a rod 31 to'a crank 32 which is secured to a shaft 33. To shaft 33 is secured a gear 34. which coperates. with a worm 35 on a shaft 36, said shaft having a gear 37 ,which may be connected to an suitable source of' power. When the sha t 36 is rotated the loosely mounted bell-crank 27 and the slotted rod 2 8- will be moved without'effect on the dampers 19-20. The hub of bell-crank 2 -7 is provided with teeth 38, Yadapted for clutch engagement with teeth 39 found on a sliding collar 40. The collar 40 is adapted for engagement with a ,spline 41 formed on shaft 21. When pins 26 are removed from engagement with' arms 23 and 25, and. the

- collar 40 is moved into clutch engagement with bell-crank 27 movement of the bellcrank, caused by rotation of shaft 36, will be imparted to the influencedampers 19-20, causing said d ampers to change their positions. For instance,'in Fig. 1 both influence dampers are 1n a vertical position.

l Movement of crank 32 causes damper `19 to '40 be moved to theposition shown by .dotted lines. The slot 29 formed in rod 284 permits this movement-of damper 19, withoutaecting damper 20% Further, movement of crank 32 causes further movementfof damper 19, and owing to the limited length of slot 29, causes movement of damper 20 tothe position shown in Fi i3. The operation of these dampers will e more fully set forth in describin the method.

'Situate to the right of the air duct 18 is. a liue 42, which may be connected through 10, is an exhaust duct 51, and in 'this duct a controlling valve 52. The partitions .11 of the drum10, I prefer to be erforated, as

shown in Fig. 2 or formed o Wire netting,

as shown Fig. 3.4 lIn 4 there is located withm the drum' 10', a drum formed .tain differentamounts .of moisture.

of perforated metal or Wire 53, and located within this drum, two series of electric lights 54-55. In Fig. 7 a steam coil 56 is used in place ofthe electric lights, and a steam coil 57 is located in a pipe 58 which Acorresponds vto pipe 43 of Fig. 3. A third steam coil 59 is located under the drum. The drum is provided with extensions 60 and 61, which' are journaled in bearings forming part of the Walls of ducts 18and 51. `The extension 61 is provided with a gearv w-heel 62 which is in mesh with a driving pinion 63.

My method may be carried out as follows: Referring firstfto Fig. 1. The drum being at rest, the hand cover 13 is moved and the material to be treated introduced into one of the compartments between the partitions- 11, at which time the cover is replaced and the drum rotated, the material being introduced into each compartment until the required amount ofmaterial to be treated has been introduced into the drum. The drum is then set in motion. The air currents entering by' the air duct 18, p ass through the drum and over the material in the drum (indicated by the letter M) and out of the drum through thel air exhaust duct 51.

It will be understood from the description heretofore given, that the influence dampers Clt 19-20 are constantly moving and changing Y their positions, whereby the air willbe sent through all of the compartments, when the dampers are in the positionshow'n in Fig. 1, and through the lower compartments, when theh dampers are in the position shown in Fig'.v 3, and through the`upper compartments, therfreversing, the mechanism controlling-the influence dampers being such that o ne .influence damper follows the motion of -theother, or precedes the motion-of the otherf Aas this feature has been made the subject of other applications and willV be readily understood, it yis not considered necessary to enterlinto any further description of the movement ofthe dampers.

In the apparatus shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the heating effectsand dehydrating effects are due to introduced hot air through the air duct 18. The -air is preferably dry air.

'When the machine is first started, the air currents lose a part of their heat through the material to be treated, and in the continued use ,of the-apparatus, lose a part of their heat by reason of the evaporation of the moisture from the surface of the material beingtreated. This loss of temperature is one which it is dilicult to regulate owing tothe fact that the different materialsIcont is therefore generally vnecessary to makethe temperature f the introduced air somewhat higher than the temperature required to produce the nnecessary exudation; for instance, if it is found that a body exudes moisture freely at 110, it will be necessary to raise thetemperature of the air to Y12.0,y thereby lowering the humidity ofthe air'relative vto its volume,.as is well understood, in orderl to compensate for the losses aboveset forth.

applied lbest through the apparatus shown in Figs'. 4fto\9 inclusive. In the apparatus shown in these figures, thematerial 1s jin'- troduced as previously described, andthe [o airthen turned on through the air duct 18;

the material M is heated to the exuding temperature by the action of the heat from the electric lights 53, or thesteam coils 56, Y 5?. Thus, when the airis turned on, 'at' for instance a temperature of 110, the material has already been broughtl to 110, and.in the further operation of the machine is maintained at 11d"` bythe action of the electric lights or-the steam coils.` `Thus they moisture absorbing value ofthe air yintro-A duced through the air duct 1.48 is mai-ntained with the eect that the B Xudation of the moisture is more uniform, and further exudation vmay be maintainedat lower tempera-tures, as 1- is the case where the exudation is due to the-heat and osmotic action `of the in troduced aircurrents. A l

' In Fig. 8 of the drawings, the heat vis appliued internally andfexternally ofthe.

drum, whichpermits of somewhatK better distribution. 4 The drum is `rotated as before stated. The rotation of the drum brings different surfaces of 4the material M into the air; currents and also into the influence of the, heat, thereby insuring that all particles of the body treated shall be both heated and subjected to the actionof air. Further, by reason of -the arrangement shown in Fig.' o,4, all of the .material is lbrought into the influence ofthe electric light. l A j The precise'action of the light upon'vegetable bodies is^not known. It is supposed that theA rays act mechanically and thereby '45 Vbring about motion which permits chemical reactions to take place, which, as before stated, iniiuence the plant and the structure of the materials carried by the' body. --The time during which the material contained withinthe drum should be subjected to the action of'heat, air currents and the like,

will depend upon'the character of the body -treatedfthat is, its structure, the almount of l moisture, .character of ingredients, andthe like, In practice it has been demonstratedi that where a body will exude .moisture .freely at 110 temperature, exudation will continue during, the time the temperature is maintained for aidefinite'time, whenfit will cease. With some bodies the exudation which takes place at Vsuch a temperature will remove the ,required percentage of water, which ordinarily speaking must be such thaty the remaining water'will not be a5 s uicientto combine with the*v enzym lo avoid this objection, the method is' lthen raisedand continued until such-,time

'as the moisture has been` reduced, as above Y stated. With certain bodies, the temperabodies, the temperature -may be increased.` With vbodies in which the volatilizatlon o point is very low, it is sometimes deslrable 'temperatures' which must be'. employed.

`points wherebythey may-be directedbythe influence dampers 19 and 2Ov-througl1'rd1the pres-ent to set fermentation or'to ,prof

'duce mold (the ercentageranges from'5 to' 20%) but su cient to maintain the lcell l "membranes ofthe-body in a condition'zto permitV endosmosisthrou h the cell walls'of IG the bodywhe'n thefb'ody 1s subsequently im- Inersed in water.- If 1t. is found that-. thef body does not exude the required'v moisture atfsay temperature, the temperature'is turemust be kept low to avoid the volatilil zation of the essential oils. `With other'l to heat them fora time at a temperature.. less th-an will effect volatilization, thendrop the temperature, then bring it back to the original'temperature, when it is found that exuda-ti'on willsaga-in commence. By `re`v peating. the steps as before stated, vthe .re-

quired percentage of .moisture will be 're-V moved vthout' volatilization.r With other bodies, where it -isldesired to ineiiect polyvmerize theessential oils, the temperature, lafter therequired exudation has taken' Place, may be rapidly raised, V`for instance to 220 or higher.

It will be understood that owingrto the very great variety of. materials 'which may be subjected to treatment, it practlcally impossibleto state any denite range of- The purpose of the iiue 42 iis to'allow the introduction of a gas or gasesto the material in the drum, during Athe dehydration treatment, or before or after or Ialternately with the dehydrating"treatment, such gases passing into the air duct 18 through lthe openc ings 45, 46 and 47, controlled by-valves 448,

49 and 50. These valves 48, 49 and 450 are individually adjustable to permit of the gases flowing into the air duct at-diiferent different compartments, as previ pointed out. Ihus I .may use 'any gas suchfor instance as sulfurous acid gas, fas' in the caseof the treatment of hops', or Imay use an aldeh'yde, where is -is .desiredfto produce chemical reaction with the oils or sugars applied heat,

' 1 to the body and while in motion subjecting it to the action of air currents, independently applied heat, and electrically produced light for a suilicient time to remove atleast 80% of the normal water content and produce color changes.

2. The method of treating cellular bodies to produce a partially dehydrated body, which consists in subjecting the body to thel 4. In a deh vdrating apparatus, the com.

bination of a rotary member,r an air inlet, an air outlet, means for continuously alter-y ing the level at which the air is transmitted through the lrotary member, and means for heating and lighting the interior of the rotary member through the instrumentality of electric energy.

5. In a dehydrating apparatus, the combination of a rotary member 'open at both ends and divided into compartments by partitions, an air inlet located at one end, an

lair outlet located at the other end, a series of air defiecting dampers located .in the air inlet, together with meansl for continuously varying the positions of the dampers.

6. In a dehydrating apparatus, the combination'of a rotary. member open atboth ends and divided into compartmentsby partitions, an air inlet located at one end, an

air outlet located at the otherend, a series of air deflecting dampers located in the air inlet, means for, continuously imparting motion to said dampers, together with means for heating the interior ofthe rotary member.

7 In a dehydrating apparatus, the com,

bination o a rotary member open at both ends and divided into compartments by partitions, an air `inlet located at one end, an

air .outlet located at the other end, a series Aof -air deiecting damperslocated in the air inlet` means for continuously impartingmotion to said dampers, a source ofelectric energy, and a series of electric lights adapted to transmit light and heat into the interior of the rotary member.

8. In a dehydrating apparatus, theI combination of a rotary member open at both ends an-d divided into compartments by partitions, an air inlet located at one end, an air outlet located at the other end, a series .of air deflecting dampers located inthe air inlet, means for continuously imparting motion to said dampers, a'gas inlet, and dam-A pers located between the gas inlet and the air inlet.' y l 9. In a dehydrating apparatus, the combination of a rotary member open at both ends and divided into compartments by partitions,- wire screens at both ends, an air inlet located at one end, an air outlet located at the other end, a series of air defi'ecting dampers located in the air inlet, and

means for continuously imp'arting motion to said dampers.

v10. Ina dehydrating apparatus, an annular rotary drying'chamber having a perforated interior Wall and a light radiating device inclosed by said interior wall.

11. In a dehydrating apparatus, an annular rotary dryin chamber having a perforated interior wa l, and an electrically energized light radiating device inclosed by said interior wall.v

12. In a dehydrating apparatus, an annularA rotary drying chamber, and an electrically energized combined light and heat radiating device inclosed 'by said annular chamber.

13. In a dehydrating apparatus, the combination of a rotary member, anl air inlet, an air outlet, .a controlling means for said air inlet adapted to cause the air to enter different portions of the said rotary mem.- ber, and means-whereby a gas may be caused to How into different portions of said chamberI according to the position of said controlling means.

In testimony whereof, I ailix. my signature, in the presence of two witnesses.

' GEORGE HILLARD BENJAMIN. 

